


Born to Make History

by RachaelBmine, sweetbabydean



Series: PO3: Avengers Assemble [5]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Backstory, Bank Robbers, F/F, First Mission, Flashbacks, Past Abuse, Samuel Jackson's Nick Fury, The Avengers (2012) - Freeform, The Avengers (Movie) - Freeform, The Centipede Project (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Yes this is OFC/OFC, the Avengers are background characters, this is the buildup to the buildup
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-05
Updated: 2017-02-20
Packaged: 2018-09-22 01:59:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9577190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RachaelBmine/pseuds/RachaelBmine, https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetbabydean/pseuds/sweetbabydean
Summary: Cassie and Zoe (Team 2) origin story





	1. BoNY: Zoe

**Author's Note:**

> I made an Ambient-Mix for this fic.  
> [Listen while you read.](http://other-atmospheres.ambient-mixer.com/born-to-make-history--fanfic-/)
> 
> No beta, mistakes are mine.
> 
> I don't own and didn't create any of the Marvel characters or stories, just want to have a little fun with them.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zoe sets the stage:
> 
> Battle of New York, Manhattan. NYPD is presently occupied, the stock market had taken a plunge, and citizens have fled the city. What a perfect time for two women that have always been on the losing end to go get what they want. 
> 
> aka
> 
> Let's be bad guys.

Rhodey had never heard anything more ridiculous in his life. His eyes squinted with tears as he laughed at the story that was unfolding before him. Sam was standing, in full storytelling mode, giving the best impression of Cassie that any of them had ever seen.

“Then she goes, ‘So are we fucking or fighting?’,” they entire table broke into laughter once again. Rhodey, visiting the team at HQ for the day with Tony, was being treated to good food and conversation like always, but this was something new. The topic had veered towards Zoe and Cassie’s shaky past and the unusual way they became Avengers and eventually brought the family together. 

“No, no, no, Sam you have this totally wrong,” Zoe chimed in over the cacophony of laughter. She shooed him back to his seat and stood at the head of the table, waiting for everyone to quiet down. 

“James, do you REALLY want to know how it all went down?” Her eyebrow lifted.

“Please, call me Rhodey, but by all means,” he waved his hand, gesturing for her to continue.

She smirked at Cassie and hopped atop the table to sit cross legged. “Wanna hear it? Here it goes.”

****

* * *

“I just got Central bank! Fuck yesssss,” Cassie stood abruptly in the back of the van, hitting her head on the roof with a thunk. “Ouch, shit!”

Zoe’s eyes widened at the announcement. “Phuff yeaff!” she shouted around a mouth full of spicy drunken noodles. She pumped her chopsticks in the air a few times and moved over to look over Cassie’s shoulder. The laptop in front of them blinked wildly with a long list of numbers. 

“Print that shit,” Zoe spat, several noodles flying freely over Cassie’s shoulder.

“I am but Zo, you are killing me with the noodles, bae.”

The printer spat out a couple of pages covered in bank account numbers. There was a muted boom, some distance away from where they were, but the van still vibrated from the shockwaves that followed. They needed to move fast or this part of Manhattan would be a shit show soon. 

They loaded their handheld devices with the god-sent numbers and began to prepare themselves. The ladies pulled on the wigs that they always had stashed in boxes under the front seats, donned large designer shades, and lipstick to complete their look. With a grin, Zoe swung the van door open violently and leapt from the vehicle. Cassie followed and after handing over half the sheets she pulled Zoe, her best friend and the one that had pulled her out a shitty situation years before, into a fierce hug.

“We're about to be rich, bitch,” Zoe whispered into her best friend's ear. 

Cassie looked at her, large round shades hiding the tears that filled her eyes.

“No more instant noodles?”

“To hell with instant noodles.”

“No more sleeping in the van?”

“We'll sleep on Benjamin Franklin's face from now on.”

This made them both giggle for a moment, but they soon became serious again. They had a mission and could celebrate after it was accomplished.

“I love you,” they said simultaneously. With that they walked to the corner and split up, going in opposite directions.

****

* * *

Zoe’s heart skipped when she came across the red and white atm only a block and a half away from where she and Cassie had split up. She knew the address she was looking for, but was unaware how quickly she would get to it. The ground shook again as an explosion, much closer than the previous one, let loose. She caught a glimpse of the flying creatures in the air a couple of miles off. 

Alright, stay cool, Zo. She thought, trying to reel in her fear. Honestly though, aliens were flying in Manhattan air. Fucking aliens! Maybe being a little freaked out was totally acceptable. However, she knew what she had to do and she would not let Cassie down. Not after years of being tormented and feeling totally helpless. This plan was years in the making, they would run, get money, and have their freedom. They had already ran, now if was time for step two, get money.

She walked up to the ATM, emboldened by the thoughts of her and Cassie’s past. The faux ATM card attached to the device she held looked like something out of a 1990s spy movie, but it got the job done. She slipped it in the ATM card slot, allowed it to feed the appropriate account number to the machine and waited for the prompt to put in a PIN number. Once she typed in the four digits, the machine prompted her to indicate a withdrawal amount. 

“Free money for one thousand, Alex,” she mumbled to herself. 

* * *

She had been working at that ATM for about 15 minutes, successfully draining it of all its monetary supply, when an explosion erupted just three blocks from where she stood. She shrieked and ducked to the ground, gravel bits flew through the air, barely missing her. It was time to go. She shoved the device back in her shoulder bag and looked at the smoke that was gathering along the road. She could see, just barely, that there was a dark shadow moving about in the dust and smoke that clouded her vision. 

What the hell is that? She thought, slowly backing up, knowing that she needed to get out of there immediately. 

Her heart thumped and adrenaline surged through her veins as her fight or flight instinct kicked in. She turned on her heel, trying not to make a sound that would alert whatever creature lurked about in the smoke, only to come face to face with the most grotesque thing she had ever seen. It was one of the monsters that had split the sky above her city and started tearing buildings to the ground. But it was moving slowly, clearly missing one of its arms, black liquid spilling from its side. This did not change the fact that it had its eyes trained on her like a fox hunting it's rabbit prey.

Just as a scream forced its way out of her lungs, the sidewalk exploded in front of her, reducing the alien to a pile of twisted limbs. All that she could see now was a massive green back, like a wall, rippling violently with muscles. 

Fucking hell! Its… Its him…

It was, without a doubt, the most terrifying and most beautiful thing that she had seen. It was the Hulk. 

She had jokingly swooned over news broadcasts of the Hulk that she and Cassie would sometimes watch. Going on and on about how smart Dr. Bruce Banner was, and wondering if other parts of him also got big and green when he changed. Now, she had finally gotten her chance to stand before him. 

“Ah! It- Its-” she stuttered and stumbled over her words. “Its- HULK!” 

Oh yea, real smooth, Zoe. She thought angrily. At the sound of her voice the massive frame began to turn, the sidewalk nothing but gravel beneath those huge feet. She shrunk back at the sheer size of him. He stared down at her for what seemed like forever, but was surely just for a moment. Those eyes ablaze set her insides on fire and she took a step back, just to trip over a chunk of sidewalk and land on her ass. With a single step the Hulk towered over her and then he was gone. 

After a while, Zoe picked herself up from the ground. She stood, covered in dust, as the reality of what just happened sunk in. She had met the Hulk. Bruce -fucking- Banner! She collected herself and sprinted off in the direction of the next ATM on her list. She needed to finish her task and get back to the van. She couldn’t wait to brag to Cassie about what had just happened.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cassie robs an atm or five, and runs into someone along the way.

"I can do this. I can do this... I can't do this," Cassie mumbled to herself. She knew logically that she had to do this, but she was itching to run back to Zoe.

Fifty grand was more than enough for the both of them, assuming Zoe was able to pull her numbers like they planned. For a criminal, Cassandra's anxiety was the absolute worst and it's a real surprise she hadn't ended up in jail by now —well excluding that time they were in Queens and some ass wipe decided to get too handsy. But that's besides the point! He deserved that, just like she and Zoe deserved more than the shit life they'd been handed.

"We deserve this," Cassie mumbled, nodding to herself. "I can do it for us."

With that, she followed the map she had memorized by heart, walking briskly even amidst all the chaos in the world around them. Aliens. Fucking aliens. Who'd have ever thought the day she finally hacked into a fucking bank (the bank she’d been trying at for months), her time would be limited because goddamned aliens were wrecking all of New York like a toddler with a clean playroom. She sure didn't, but the fact was that she needed to move swiftly and carefully both to succeed the mission and get out safely.

When she finally stepped in front of the ATM, she put her game face on, pulling the bank card from her hand held and inserting it into the slot. This was the easy part, she reminded herself as she followed the prompts on the screen before her. She'd been in a fairly dark part of the corridor, away from most of the havoc even though she could feel the ground shaking beneath her feet. She had to focus though, so she tuned out the commotion, focusing solely on the task at hand. This was the only chance she and Zoe had at making it, and she couldn’t let Zoe down. Not here, not now.

"Come on, baby. That's right. Show me the money!" She whisper yelled, running the numbers and extracting the cash, visions of a better life blooming within her brain.

\---

She'd been running the last account when she felt that aching drop in gut, like danger was imminent. She looked around briefly, assessing the outs. If she squinted, she could tell that there was something coming; an ugly creature riding some kind of contraption and headed her way. All she could think about was whether or not Zoe was seeing the same shit she was (she hoped not) and that the ATM better move its fucking ass. She didn't move except for her fingers jamming at the ATM and hoping it would spit the card back out before she got decapitated. Thankfully it did, but only just before the ATM was blasted to smithereens right before her eyes. Run, she thought, running is a good idea. She headed in the opposite direction of the ATM, hoping to escape the danger only to run smack into it. Literally.

God this thing is ugly, she thought. Gruesome and terrifying look on its face as the creature stares her down. Cassie's almost certain the thing was going to use that spear in its hand to gut her like a fish, practically says her on eulogy in her head, before a spinning colorful discus going at least two hundred miles per hour decapitates the disgusting motherfucker in two seconds flat. She blinked, eyes wide and staring at the painted shield in front of her feet.

Is that… Yup. Walking toward her in all his broad shouldered, tapered waist, all american glory was the one and only Captain America.

“You shouldn’t be here, miss,” was all he said before ushering her toward the huddle of other civilians.

“I uh, I have to-“ she started, gulping down all the saliva that built up in her mouth at the thought of him. If only Zoe could see this shit. She was being carried away by the most attractive ninety-something year old ever and she was acting like a blubbering fool. She needed to get out of there and fast, as much as she was appreciative of him, he was ruining her plans.

After being escorted to the “safe zone”, Cassie scouted out her exit. She couldn’t go north, since the perimeter set up by police was blocking the most direct route to the van. If she headed west, she’d probably hit a few aliens, but it’d be the next quickest way. She waited patiently for the attention on her to die down before running off down a darkened alley.

“This money better be worth my broken ankle if I fall in these heels, dammit.”

——

“Cassie, hurry up!” Zoe shouted, watching the taller girl run toward her at the fastest speed possible.

“Trying!” Cassie yelled, dodging yet another piece of crumbling building. One of her heels had broken two blocks ago and the uneven concrete was hell on her knees but she pushed through, knowing that if she kept going, she’d reach Zoe and the van in less than two minutes.

Thankfully the van was already started when she finally got there, heaving herself into the passenger seat. She was out of breath and so fucking tired but she and Zoe were safe and on their way to riches! “Go, go , go!” Cassie croaked, wanting to get out of Manhattan as soon as possible.

“Okay, okay,” Zoe responded as she stepped on the gas, the old van practically leaping across the broken road.

Cassie watched through the back window as they fled city, broken as it was. She was still heaving for breath, hands gripping her thighs to control her anxiety. Zoe slipped her hand into hers and Cassie tossed a small grin her way, kissing the smaller hand in hers. Come whatever, they were going to be okay. She didn’t need Zoe to tell her that because she’d always known. From foster homes to the streets, they’d always taken care of each other and she knew that they always would.

Minutes later when she’d finally caught her breath, she looked over at Zoe as they’d stopped at a red light. “Guess what?”

“What?” Zoe smiled, feeling giddy already.

“We in this bitch!” Cassie shouted, starting to do her victory dance in her seat.

“We really fucking did it, didn’t we?”

“Yeah, Zo, we really fucking did it.”

The two girls shouted giddily as the drove off once again, just happy as they could be. Fuck sleeping in a parking space somewhere tonight; those days were over. It was time for some serious splurging and upgrading. Goodbye hard times, hello high life.


	3. Chapter 3 aka I'll Be in My Bunk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: this chapter has a rating of Explicit! Completely unnecessary smut. If you are not comfortable with that, just skip it and keep reading, it does not affect the story at all. I had it written and I sure as hell wasn't going to keep it to myself.

They made it out of Manhattan with the sight of the giant black hole in the sky closing up in their rearview mirror. A thin trickle of blood ran down Cassie’s forehead, Zoe’s hands were bloody and burned as she white knuckled the steering wheel, but they kept driving.They had gotten bruised up but it had been worth it. God had it been worth it. 

They had dramatically recounted their separate run-ins with the Avengers as Zoe sped through the city, purposely ignoring the piles of money that rested safely in their bags. The adrenaline coursed through them and the high of it made them giddy. Zoe pulled to a stop in one of the dark back streets in Brooklyn, one that they had frequented many times in the last two years. No one ever came down this block, not even cops looking to fill their quotas with quick arrests of some junkies. It was a safe space. 

Zoe shut the engine off and they sat there, the sound of their panting the only thing to break the silence. 

“Zo…”

“Yea?”

Cassie pushed herself out of her seat and moved to the back of the van. Zoe followed and sat with her on the floor of the vehicle they called their home for the past two years. Upending their bags caused a shower of green bills to fill the space around them. It was unreal. Their eyes met and both burst into laughter; laughing so hard that tears began to run down their dusty cheeks. The light playful sound soon turned into deep sobs. Is this what redemption felt like? Is this what breaking the chains that had bound them accomplished? This money, all ninety thousand dollars of it, was their ticket to freedom. They had WON. 

They leaned into each others shoulders as the sobs subsided, chests heaving with emotion. Finally their eyes met, telling the other exactly what they felt deep within. 

“Zo,” Cassie whispered, voice deep with emotion. 

The sound of that emotion always affected Zoe, with an intensity that was unparalleled in comparison to everyone else the woman knew. She grabbed the lapels of the jacket Cassie wore and forced it back roughly, exposing the loose silk tank top that was beneath it. Their lips smashed together, tongues unhesitant in their exploration of each others mouths. The familiarity of it made them fold into each other, Zoe straddling a waiting lap and Cass wrapping her arms around a soft waist. The money shifted beneath them and fluttered into the air as the two women rolled around the small space, tussling with unwanted clothing, wanting to feel more of each other. When the offending garments were finally tossed to the front of the van, Zoe settled herself atop her best friends hips.

“This is for us,” she smirked and grabbed a handful of twenty dollar bills. She dropped them one by one and watched them land across the smooth skin of Cassie’s prone body. 

“Goosebumps,” she said, and sure enough Cassie’s skin was prickled with gooseflesh. Her nipples perked up as the crisp bills slid over them teasingly. Zoe leaned down to flick those nubs with her tongue, hands caressing the soft surrounding flesh as she did so. Cassie let out a tantalizing whine at the feeling of a hot mouth on her breast. It was all so overwhelming. They were making out on a mound of money and their dreams were being realized. Two slim fingers slid below her waist to play in her wetness. 

It was Zoe’s turn to moan as she felt her fingers slide into that wet heat with no resistance. She sat back so she could look at her fingers slide in and out of that sweet space. Cassie was panting and flush from her face to her neck. Moans escaped her mouth in mantra like repetition and she gripped handfuls of cash as she rocked her hips against those fingers, nearly coming in the process.

“Shhh,” Zoe rubbed her friends sweaty hair from her face. “Wait a bit.”

Cassie nodded but immediately began to shudder as she watched Zoe mouth her way down her body, over her navel, and straight to her core. She jolted when Zoe sucked her clit roughly and let go with a pop of her lips. It happened again but Cassie was coming before Zoe had a chance to release her. Her head fell back against several twenty dollar bills as a second wave of ecstasy racked her entire being. Her cries could easily be heard outside the van, if anyone had been there

Zoe pushed herself up and stared down at her lover and friend for a moment. She took in how wide open Cassie was, legs spread, mind completely pliant. She was considering making her come again but the curly head woman was already sitting up and pulling her across her lap. 

Zoe ground her body down into her lover and cried out as they slid against each other. As much as she craved cock on a regular basis, she had never quite felt anything like this with a man. Maybe it was because it was Cassie, the first one she loved outside of a familial bond. She didn’t know and didn’t care, all she knew was that her nerves were ablaze and every time their hips rocked and their clits kissed she felt like she would explode. When she did, her body shook, and she squeezed her thighs tightly around Cassie's waist, waves of orgasm washing over her.

The ladies collapsed on the pile of money, gasping for air and feeling claustrophobic in the van that was now too small for them. They had planned on staying at the best hotel they could find outside of the danger zone and would soon have to leave their alley to go check in. Giggles floated through the air once they had caught their breath, sweaty and satisfied. Slowly, they pulled most of their clothes back on and crawled to the front seats. 

As they drove away, Cassie looked over at Zoe’s glowing face and smiled. It was time to spend some hard earned money.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *runs hides*


	4. One Year Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ladies think they have done everything right but life isn't done with them yet.
> 
> aka
> 
> The day shit hits the fan?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cassie and Zoe's first official mission against the bad guys...

The year before their lives would change forever, Cassie and Zoe seemed to have made all the right moves. The offshore account was simple enough to acquire, as was the huge amount of cheap stock they were able to swipe up when the market plummeted during the attacks. They were effectively millionaires now. Not of the Tony Stark brand of rich, but they would never need for money again if they played their cards right. And for the first time ever, they had a good hand. Thanks to gentrification, they were able to grab a beautiful, newly built, condo in Harlem that year. Windows surrounded the open floor plan on two sides and they placed their overly large bed right under them; basking under the moon and sounds of traffic every night. It was the life. 

The condo was also located a perfect distance away from their normal place of work, Manhattan. Not too close but not too far. Their work was not totally legal but it was something they had become experts at. Selling Cree technology. They had not mastered its use due to a lack of proper laboratories, but they had made enough progress with it to attract collectors and other curious minded individuals. They had tons of the stuff; it had basically dropped from the sky into their laps. Currently, they stood in one of many empty warehouses that seemed so abundant in any major bayside city in America. Their latest activated Cree technology boxed up and ready to be exchanged for a ridiculous fifteen grand, and the item wasn’t even that big. Cassie shifted and readjusted her holstered weapon under her jacket. 

“Relax. We’ve done this a million times,” Zoe reclined against one of the huge metal beams that supported the ceilings high roof. Her voice was unwavering but the dark shades she wore hid the way her eyes darted back and forth, constantly checking their surroundings for movement.

“I am relaxed. Can’t you tell?” Cassie came back sarcastically. “And don’t lean against that, it's gross.”

Zoe sighed and pushed herself back into a standing position. This asshole was late and she said so to her companion.

“He has another six minutes.”

“He’s fucking late, Cass.”

“Quit being -”

There was a earsplitting scrape of metal on metal as the door to their right was slid open. A timid man with glasses stepped in. Zoe came forward immediately.

“You’re late!” she growled.

“I- I- I’m five minutes early?” he said self consciously. Stumbling over his words and fiddling with the briefcase he carried in his hands. His jet black curly hair was wild on his head, as if he had sprinted to their location. He looked at Cassie for help as if he knew for a fact that she was the more reasonable one. The taller woman rolled her eyes and turned around to pick up the wooden box containing the item they were there to sell. Before pulling the lid back to show the goods, Cassie shifted the side of her jean jacket, revealing the Glock nestled under her arm. The man visibly shrunk into himself. Cas tilted the box so that he could get a good look at the item and he nodded his head. Satisfied he hurriedly opened the briefcase that contained a screen and keyboard which he used to type in several passcodes. Zoe smirked, another job well done. The man grabbed the box once Zoe confirmed the transfer and told him he could leave and nearly crashed into a metal support beam in his attempt to get out of dodge. 

She turned to Cassie and her smile fell immediately. 

_Shit._

“Something isn’t right,” Cassie mumbled. 

“I know.” 

Things never go as planned.

 

* * *

They had tracked the buyer back to a laboratory in lower Manhattan, one that was too well hidden to be legitimate. The building was not terribly large, only about ten stories high, and it looked mostly empty. The lab seemed to encompass just the top two levels. The girls had parked the van, hoping to be as inconspicuous as possible so that Cassie could hack into the security of the building. Zoe sat behind her and watched over her shoulder. The screen blinked and several windows of CCTV footage from the last two weeks popped up. The timid man could be seen going in and out of the building nearly everyday, always looking around nervously as if someone could jump out at any moment and take him down. Clearly illegal activity was taking place in that lab. But what?

“Stop!”

Cassie quickly stopped the feed and backed up a bit, knowing exactly what Zoe had seen. There in the video, was the buyer, but this time he was with a woman in a short flower printed dress. Her dark hair was curled and brushed over her shoulders in a carefree manner, but her face told a different story. She wore a mask of normalcy, a slight smile on her face as if she was just out shopping, but her eyes shed light on her true character. There was a coldness to them that you would see on a person that should not be trifled with. She was absolutely gorgeous, but more importantly, she was carrying the same wooden box they had given the man a week ago.

“This was yesterday, Zo.”

“Do they come back out? Do they?”

“I’m checking, hang on.” Cassie’s fingers flew across the keyboard and the video sped through the hours that remained between the woman’s arrival and just an hour ago. Nothing. They checked every angle of the building and found squat. If the woman left, she’d have to have been airlifted from the roof. Or… she was still in the building. Cassie was already on the task of checking on the level of security in the building. She let out a long whistle. 

“This won’t be easy.”

“That bad, huh? How long?”

“Could be all night…”

Zoe groaned at the thought of sleeping in their van, but if that meant that they could work faster, then she would do it. 

That night the girls found themselves at a service door in the back of the building. They had hatched a plan using the building blueprints and what they could get of the buildings security video. Zoe had her keycode breaker in her hand and it was blinking away. Cassie fidgeted behind her impatiently. The grey, weathered building did not have a fire escape, just a blank stone facade interrupted by windows at even increments. It loomed above them in the darkness as if warning them to back away and go back to the safety of their van. The code breaker flashed wildly at Zoe and the door clicked in front of her. 

“Bingo”

Zoe stepped into the darkened hallway that spread before them and gulped down her fear of the unknown. The building did not have guards on any of the floors other than nine and ten, which were the floors the labs occupied. There would be no one coming to get them until they reached the top and that's when they would activate their plan. They found the elevator on the first level, and planted the device Zoe had rigged for this job. Then they proceed to the even darker stairwell to make the climb to the top. They could only see by using the night vision goggles that they had snagged on Ebay for practically free and they whispered to each other as they ascended. 

“Cass, you sure they have no guards before the ninth floor?”

“As sure as I can get based on the security feed, they building schematics, and the power grid…”

Zoe knew there was nothing else Cassie could do. Just like Zoe, the taller woman was damn good at her job and Zoe knew she had to trust her. They reached level eight and began to slow down, straining their ears to catch any sounds of movement. Zoe raised her hand to signal a stop. The door ahead of them had a large sign in its center with the number nine printed on it. On the other side there was the broken sounds of a walkie talkie. 

**[BEEP]**

**… elevator moving… over.**

**[BEEP]**

**… not really… check it out, over…**

**[BEEP]**

Cassie and Zoe looked at each other, taking in each others green tinted outlines, and nodded. In no time they were out of their goggles and in full face respirators, and they waited. 

The sound of the elevator door sliding open was their que. They stepped out into the dimly lit hallway and crept toward the elevator. They were just rounding the corner when a resounding boom ripped through the silence. The floor shook under the strength of the explosion. Oops. Zoe had done it again. This bomb was supposed to be a sleeper, knocking the victims out for several hours while the ladies did their thing and got the Cree tech back. Instead, the blast had been stronger than expected and knocked the three guards that were standing by the elevator to the floor. Cassie just shook her head. 

_Just like your drinks, stronger than you think,'_ Zoe could hear Cassie saying in her head, .

They ran the remaining twenty feet to the guards and relieved them of their guns and access cards to the tenth and final floor. Zoe leaned in to press #10 on the elevator and they ran back to the stairwell to ditch the guns and gas masks. They touched hands to comfort each other momentarily. With the way the floor had shook at the explosion, their presence had surely been compromised. 

The plan wasn’t perfect, but when has there ever been? They could lament this statement later, right now they were working on taking down the three guards that had remained on the tenth floor while the others walked into to their trap. Zoe ducked under a overshot swing from the first man that attacked her, delivering a ruthless elbow to his soft center. The air rushed from the man's lungs and he doubled over. Cassie greeted his nose with the heel of her hand. Blood splattered across the white wall and the man slumped to the floor. The next two men approached simultaneously, conclusively over their previous mirth when seeing that the intruders were both women. A sadistic grin spread over Zoe’s face, which had been splattered with drops of blood when Cassie wrecked the last guy's nose. Adrenaline rushed through their veins.

These idiots weren't even drawing their guns. 

Zoe snatched the knives that hung patiently at her hips out of their sheaths, she let one fly, and barked a joyous laugh as it sunk deep into the right shoulder of the shorter man with a sickening thud. He screamed out in pain and dropped to his knees, his partner standing not far behind him.

“Show off,” Cassie joked and stepped in front of her best friend. 

The side of her foot connected with the taller man's face but he grabbed it before she pulled away. He punched out and hit her forearm as she blocked, this asshole was going to put up a fight. Her arm throbbed but the pain only egged her on. She swung her fist up, striking what would be a handsome jawline, if they were not trying to beat each other to a pulp, and the man stilled. Zoe materialized behind him and donkey kicked his legs from under him. Cassie kicked him once and then twice more, and the body went limp and unable to fight back. 

“Grabbing my fucking leg,” she mumbled angrily.

She and Zoe sprinted into the empty lab and started ripping apart any cabinet or box they could find. The woman in the flower dress was nowhere to be found… actually there wasn't anyone around, the lab was deserted. Zoe stilled, feeling the dread fill the room. 

“Cass…”

Cassies was currently tossing IV bags full of saline out of a cabinet and onto the floor. She paused and looked over at Zoe. Her eyes refocused over her friend's shoulder, and the color drained out of her face.

“Zo- _ZOE!_ ”

The sudden shriek of her name made her instinctively drop to the floor, barely in time to dodge a flying metal lab table. That metal table was embedded in the concrete wall it had been thrown so forcefully. 

Zoe scrambled across the floor to Cassie on all fours and turned to see her attacker. The sight was horrid, it was like nothing she had ever seen before. A muscular man stood on the other side of the lab glaring at them. He was shaven bald and wore loose white pants and a white shirt, the same thing a patient might wear while in a mental institution. His skin seemed to burn from within, his face, neck, and arms glowing like lava. He stumbled forward as if his legs were not his own causing ash to rise from him with each step he took. The stench that wafted from his smoldering flesh stung their noses and made their eyes water. Cassie was filled with pure terror and had to cover her mouth to stop her screams from escaping.

Zoe was still on the floor clinging to Cassie’s leg, speechless, unable to scream, unable to even move. Cassie came to her senses first, attempting to yank her companion to her feet. They had to get out or they were going to die here. The smoldering man before them swung his arm and knocked another table away, as if it was nothing. That was when they saw it, part of the Cree tech they had sold to the freaked out scientist, embedded in the man's forearm. He began screaming in agony, the ember like glow to his skin getting brighter, and he clawed at his own face. The man slumped to the ground, still screaming, with blackened skin.

“What the fuck is go-” Cassie’s words were silenced when the windows shattered inward and black bodies swung into the laboratory. Several of the dark clad bodies surrounded the two women and for just a second they saw the face of a woman, with piercing narrow eyes, and dark hair framing her face. After getting a look at their savior, everything went black.


	5. S.H.I.E.L.D. motherfuckers!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ladies awake inside a room in an unknown location, attempt escape, and receive an offer they can't refuse.

Zoe was the first to wake, startled by the sound of talking right outside the door of the room they were in. She rose from the floor quietly and tiptoed over to the doorway, leaning against it to listen. 

“... and the guards were out cold.”

“Impossible. Who helped them?”

“We checked thoroughly, Phil. There was no one else, only those two and their van.”

The conversation fell quiet when Cassie woke with a scream. She swung her fists violently at the air, aiming for some ghost of an attacker that was not there. Zoe dashed over to her friend and held up her hands soothingly. 

“Shhhh! Cassie, its cool, its me, Zoe”

Cassie’s eyes focused on Zoe and she relaxed.

“Where the hell are we Zo?”

“I don’t know. I do know that a woman and someone named Phil are right outside that door, and they were just talking about us.”

The both looked at the door, the other side now quiet, as if someone would walk in right on cue. Zoe and Cassie sat speaking in whispers for what seemed like thirty minutes before they had devised a makeshift plan on how to escape from wherever this place was. It involved the overused girl has to pee trope, but what the hell else could they do?

Cassie banged on the door and let out a shrill whine about her small bladder.

“If I have to go in the corner, that piss will be on your own hands!” She shouted through the door. At that the door clicked and was pushed open, into the room. A guard of sorts poked her head in and glared at Cassie.

“Listen… We’ve been directed to give you what you need…” she said, warily looking at Zoe who sat in on of the chairs in the room. “I’m just doing my job so… please, don’t try anything stupid.”

Cassie looked back at Zoe, questions passing between them without a word. 

_What does she mean, give us what we need?_

_Aren’t we prisoners?_

_Her request was fair… should be continue with the plan?_  


_Yes._

Zoe stood, “well I guess I should tag along so that we can do this in one trip.”

The brunette guard wrinkled her nose in thought. “I’m gonna regret this.”

* * *

 

They were nearing the restroom when they decided to execute their plan. Cassie was close behind Zoe who had pushed open the door labeled restroom, when she spun around and yanked the guard by her vest. The three women stumbled into the restroom and crashed onto the cold tiled floor. The guard swore a blue streak and tried to scramble to her feet, unfortunately Cassie was on top of her in seconds. Zoe was still sprawled out on the floor, one hand covering her right eye that had smacked against the floor when they fell. 

“Wait!” Zoe shouted. Cassie froze, fist drawn back, waiting to blacken the woman's eye. “She didn’t go for her gun.”

Cassie looked down and saw the gun holstered at the guards hip, still clipped in. The women had no idea what the purpose of them being here was, all they knew is that they wanted to get out, without hurting anyone. Cassie yanked the gun from its holster and pointed it at the woman below her. Standing slowly she motioned for Zoe to follow her out of the door.

They had not even rounded the first corner when they came to a large open lobby, buzzing with activity and people wearing the same vest that the guard in the bathroom had been wearing. Their best bet was to look like they belonged there. The two women straightened out their clothes and hair and walked confidently into the lobby. Zoe glanced around, mentally taking in the building and the people around them. It wasn’t too far now, the doors to the outside world were only about thirty yards away. 

Before the Battle of New York, Cassie and Zoe had always said they had shit luck. Anything that could happen to them, would. Things went well for them so rarely that they were always preparing for the worse. Today was no different. The dark haired woman that they saw in the lab, before losing consciousness, stepped into their path, arms crossed. She was slim and had olive skin with perfect almond eyes. Her slim, all black clad slim frame did not hide the strength that clearly brewed just below the surface. However, there was no hostility in her eyes. 

Zoe hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to do, leaving Cassie to be the one initiating the fight. Her fist was caught mid swing, the woman's hand easily holding it in place. Zoe’s mouth gaped open. Cassie growled at the effort of pulling away and came back immediately with another punch, just to have her hand knocked away effortlessly. Not one to back down, Cassie braced herself to attack again, only to be stopped by Zoe’s hand on her shoulder. 

“We’re done Cass,” she said weakly. Cassie’s head snapped to look down at her best friend. 

Done? 

Anger rose in her, not at Zoe, but at this ridiculously calm woman that had broken her friend’s will to fight. But that would have to be handled later. Right now the woman had her hand extended and Zoe was reaching for it to shake. 

“Agent Melinda May, you can call me May” the dark haired woman said.

“Uh… I’m Zoe.”

May looked over at Cassie, with her hand extended once more, in hopes to get a name. She was greeted with a icy glare. She let her hand drop. 

“There is someone that you’ve impressed, ladies. If you would follow me, he would like to meet you.” With that, May turned and began walking towards the opposite end of the lobby. Cassie looked towards the exit doors reluctantly, but moved on when Zoe nudged her on.

May opened a door for the ladies which led into a wide dark room. A screen was on at the opposite and a large oval shaped table filled the center of the space. The only other person they could see was basically a silhouette at the far end of the table. 

“Have a seat ladies,” a man’s voice ordered. They did as they were told, Agent May not far behind them.

“The Avengers.” the man began, slides appearing on the screen with details of all the Avengers the girls had talked about, written about, and swooned over for the last year. He went through an exhaustive list of what the Avengers had accomplished since their initiation. Loki, the demigod, and his alliance with the alien Cree forces, the Centipede project, the Mandarin… the list went on. On the screen was Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, and Natasha Romanov. Bruce Banner in his bigger and greener form, Thor, and Clint Barton were all there too.

“Lives have been saved by these men… and the Black Widow. But with great power comes great responsibility,” he pushed on in his explanation. 

It wasn’t just those heroes that they saw, it was the destruction of the Manhattan, Stark’s Malibu home falling into the sea, and his iron suits littering a shipping yard with damage. It was Cassie's turn to gape. 

_Where were they and what had they gotten themselves into?_

The slide show finally came to an end and the lights slowly came back on. Zoe looked at Cassie’s watery eyes and red cheeks. This had been too much too soon. Agent May stood and walked over to stand by the door of the room as if guarding it. Cassie blanched and then nearly jumped out of her seat when the mysterious man at the front of the room suddenly stood. 

His long black trench coat, which seemed to hot for the weather, swung behind him as he turned to face the ladies seated before him. The man was bald and wore an eyepatch, which did very little to hide the scars that ran down the left side of his face. He looked like a comic book character, and if Zoe had not been scared shitless, she would have laughed. 

“As you ladies have probably guessed, the information I just shared with you is strictly confidential, for clearance Level 7 and above” the man barked out. “And as you have also mostly likely guessed, you are not cleared at a goddamn Level 7!”

The women at the table just stared. The man walked around the table, slowly approaching them. 

“The way I see it, you two have dealt illegal alien contraband, interfered with a top priority and highly classified mission, assaulted a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, and then attempted escape.” He looked at them pointedly.

“To put it plainly: You’re asses. Belong. To me.” His piercing eye looked between them. The two ladies shrank back in their seats, trying to somehow become smaller. Knowing where this conversation was going. They were dead.

“Now I could make you disappear,” he said as he raised his good eyebrow. “But why the hell would I do that, when you could do so much for me?” Confusion flitted across Cassie’s face.

“You have two options: Work for me or… well, we know what that other option is.”

Zoe looked at Cassie, they didn’t need to make a decision, it was clear on both of their faces.

“Um… okay,” Zoe said hesitantly.

A grin crept over the man's fierce face, morphing it into one that told the girls that he could be trusted. 

“Ah! I didn’t introduce myself,” he remarked “Director Nick Fury, and ladies, I have one question for you.” The girls glanced at each other for a moment, then back at the director, who had paused for dramatic effect. They nodded.

“How would you like to be Avengers?”


	6. Epilogue

Rhodey had never heard anything like it before… and he is best friends with Tony Stark, so that saying something. He looked around the table at his friends and realized how much of a family they truly were. Steve was laughing and grabbing Sam’s left boob, Cassie and Clint giggled, with her feet propped up in his lap, while he rubbed her legs. Zoe, at the end of her amazing impersonation of Nick Fury, had plopped down between Stark and Natasha and intertwined arms with the both of them. Tony was looking down into her brown eyes in such an intimate way that it made Rhodey’s cheeks warm. 

He saw all of this before him and couldn’t even feel jealous. His body and mind were flooded with emotions but envy wasn’t one of them; there was too much happiness and passion that flowed through the room. The wine was not in short supply either, and he realized that may be an added factor to his blissfulness. Cassie leaned toward him and touched his knee, she spoke in a muffled voice, words not reaching Rhodey’s ears but the sentiment was received. Her smile spread wider and she poured more wine in his glass. A thank you barely made it through his laughter when she was done. 

Rhodey felt his laughter die down as he recognized another feeling within him. He hummed at it familiarity. His skin felt sensitive and tingly, and his cheeks burned a little more… because the wine of course. Confusion spread across his face for a moment and then he remembered the way Zoe had told the story, leaving very little to the imagination. Every explicit detail. Tony, who now had Zoe in his lap, looked over to the man and raised an eyebrow. 

“Rhodey, you look a little… flush?” he observed curiously. The man known as the War Machine swallowed thickly. Looking between his best friend and Zoe.

“So, uh… do you always include the sex when you tell your stories?” he blurted out before thinking. The entire table exploded into a renewed fit of laughter causing Cassie to nearly topple over and Steve to cup Sam’s left boob even tighter. Rhodey laughed along with them, thinking to himself how he’d love to come here more often.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fin
> 
> Remember, kudos are love, comments are life!


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